According to Lukeman (What Your
Dreams Can Teach You), a psychologist and clinical hypnotherapist, more than a
third of all Americans suffer from lack of sleep. How well we sleep plays a role
in both mental and physical health, from headaches and irritability to impaired
judgement (according to the author, more than 100,000 car crashes a year are
caused by sleep-deprived drivers). Lukeman presents the means to abolish
sleeplessness: he contends that a calm and relaxed mind is essential to deep
sleep and explains that people are in charge of their own sleeping habits. A
helpful personal sleep quiz allows readers to assess their sleep potential and
identify the reasons why they aren’t sleeping well. Lukeman then methodically
provides practical advice and strategies for achieving deep sleep. This
reader-friendly guide also includes information on natural sleeping aids, sleep
disorders, self-hypnosis, dream analysis (the "Sleep, Dreams, and
Health" chapter is particularly interesting), how to defeat jet lag and how
to teach children to get a good night’s rest. Readers who find themselves
staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. would benefit by devoting those currently
sleepless hours to reading Lukeman’s helpful book. (Nov.)